THE PROCESS: Once prospective families are ready to start their Taiwan International Adoption Process with Gladney, they will complete their adoption application to become approved by Gladney to adopt from Taiwan. Gladney provides detailed instructions for families throughout the adoption process. Your adoption will progress through the following stages:

Gladney Application The first step in the adoption process is to complete your Gladney Application. This involves completing various paperwork, including background clearances and reference letters. Once this paperwork has been sent to your case worker, you will begin your Home Study and start working on your Immigration Approval.

Adoption Home Study Your family’s Home Study or Home Study Assessment must be completed by a Hague Accredited Agency providing home study services. If your family lives in a state that Gladney is licensed in, families must utilize the services of Gladney for the Adoption Home Study Assessment. The home study process is comprised of a social worker’s assessment, home visit, interviews, medicals, background and child abuse clearances, financial assessments, and a minimum of 10 hours of educational training. In addition, some states have additional requirements that must be met. Families must meet and abide by state rules and regulations to receive home study approval.

Immigration Approval Once your family’s home study is complete, you will apply for approval to immigrate the child you will be adopting into the United States. Your family will complete Form I-600A for submission to the USCIS along with your home study and supporting documentation.

Preliminary Packet While your family is completing your home study and USCIS Filing of Form I-600A, you will also begin to work towards completion of a preliminary packet for Cathwel or Chung Yi. Occasionally, birth parents are part of the matching process for choosing the adoptive parents. If this is the case, your family will be chosen based on non-identifying information that will be shared with your child’s birth family. As each adoption program varies in paperwork, your family will submit and complete all or some of the following with guidance from your caseworker: family photo album, “Dear Birth Parent” letter, and application. Once your family has been matched to a child, the child welfare foundation will notify Gladney of a referral for your family. Gladney then immediately notifies your family of the child referral and the dossier paperwork is completed.

Referral Information When Gladney calls your family with the good news that you have been matched with a child; you will receive information regarding your child's social and medical history. At the time of acceptance or shortly after, you will receive a photo(s) of your child. Once you have accepted your referral, you will complete your dossier and legal documents in order to move the adoption process through the Taiwanese court system.

Dossier Once your family’s dossier has been completed, it will be sent to Gladney to be reviewed and translated. The review and translation process can take several weeks. Once your dossier is translated, it will be mailed to your child’s welfare foundation. The specific child welfare foundation will submit your dossier along with your child’s legal documents to the courts for the continued processing of your adoption. The court process takes approximately 8 months to complete.

Court Process The court process consists of one court hearing and two court rulings in which parental rights are terminated and you and your spouse become the child’s legal parents. After the final court ruling is issued, you will be invited to travel to meet your child. It is at the discretion of the judge presiding over each adoption case to require that adoptive parents be present for the court hearing. If the judge presiding over your adoption case requests your presence, a quick (less than a week) trip to Taiwan would be required.

Travel Upon notice that the child’s court process has been completed families are notified about official travel dates. Families typically travel 2-3 weeks after the finalized court ruling.

Gladney staff is committed to assisting families interested in adopting from Taiwan. To learn more about adopting from Taiwan, please request one of Gladney's free, comprehensive Adoption Information Packets. Make your request on-line or by calling 1-800-INT-ADOP.